New LED tattoos from the University of Pennsylvania could make the Illustrated Man real (minus the creepy stories, of course). Researchers there are developing silicon-and-silk implantable devices which sit under the skin like a tattoo. Already implanted into mice, these tattoos could carry LEDs, turning your skin into a screen.

The silk substrate onto which the chips are mounted eventually dissolves away inside the body, leaving just the electronics behind. The silicon chips are around the length of a small grain of rice — about 1 millimeter, and just 250 nanometers thick. The sheet of silk will keep them in place, molding to the shape of the skin when saline solution is added.

These displays could be hooked up to any kind of electronic device, also inside the body. Medical uses are being explored, from blood-sugar sensors that show their readouts on the skin itself to neurodevices that tie into the body’s nervous system — hooking chips to particular nerves to control a prosthetic hand, for example.

Chips are already used inside bodies, most notably the tiny RFID tags injected into pets. But the flexible nature of these “tattooed” circuits means they can move elastically with the body, sitting in places that a rigid circuit board couldn’t.

The electronics company Philips is developing the idea, and you can see a concept video of their work at the link.

Link | Image: flickr user spacemanbobby

Depending on how you feel about Nintendo and tattoos, you may love or hate this huge collection of Nintendo Tattoos. Some of them have some really great artwork, others…not so much.

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Flickr user Glitch Vixen got a tattoo of an embroidery her grandmother had made in high school. The result is undeniably beautiful and well-executed.

Link Via Trend Hunter

This is why I will never get a tattoo:

TAMPA – It wasn’t particularly hard for the victims of a Riverview home invasion to identify the burglar. He was the only one with an outline of the state of Florida tattooed on his face, authorities say.

In addition to the Florida tattoo, Sean Roberts also has the words “Crazy Cracker” written or tattooed on his head, Hillsborough County sheriff’s spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

And to think that if he had chosen a rectangular state like Wyoming or Colorado, he could have escaped.

Link via Double Plus Undead

If you’re a person who loves uneven tan lines, this sun tattoo is just the thing for you. At least if you get skin cancer, it will come in a pretty design.

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When questioned about his tattoos, his response is quick and to the point. “They’re about the human body as a decomposing corpse – the art of a rotting cadaver. It’s also a tribute to horror movies, which I love.”

Bizarre Magazine conducted an in depth interview with the young man regarding his appearance, his motivation and how he’s dealing with criticism and his Internet fame.

Via Bizarre Magazine.
Photo by Neville Elder.